


Stargazing

by WasJustAReader



Category: Tortall - Tamora Pierce
Genre: Book: Wild Magic, Family, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:35:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25945201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WasJustAReader/pseuds/WasJustAReader
Summary: There's a throwaway line in Wild Magic about Kally sitting outside Daine's stable with Sarge at Pirate's Swoop because she can't sleep. I decided to expand that in to an actual scene. And pretend that the night doesn't get interrupted by Daine sounding the alarm about the siege. Creative liberties. Now with a second chapter, musing on the raising of royal children!
Relationships: George Cooper & Thayet jian Wilima, Kalasin of Conté & Sarge, Kalasin of Conté & Thayet jian Wilima
Comments: 18
Kudos: 34





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> When I first had this idea (in the middle of the night, naturally) I had another little scene that involved Thayet and George talking after Kally's been put to bed for the second time, but I didn't make any notes and I've kind of forgotten exactly how it was going to go. It may come back to me and get added, but no promises.

“Sarge?”

“Kalasin.” Sarge bit back a smile, but didn’t turn to face the child. He’d been watching her out of the corner of his eye as she crept closer in the shadow of the keep for the past ten minutes. “I believe it’s past your bedtime.”

“It is,” Kalasin said, unrepentant as she came closer to stand in the open space of the courtyard. “Mama tucked me in and everything.”

“What brings you out here, then?” Sarge hadn’t spent all that much time with Thayet’s children, but he had quickly learned that Kalasin had no patience for being babied. She was eight years old, thank you very much, and would appreciate it if you spoke to her as such.

The girl shrugged. “Couldn’t sleep.”

Sarge nodded. “And your mother is busy with the baron and Buri, I imagine.” He stretched and leaned back, gesturing to the space beside him on the bench. “Well, I’ve always found the stars rather soothing, if you’d like to join me. You can’t see quite as many with the lights from the keep, but…” He shrugged.

“I don’t need mama every time I can’t sleep, you know,” Kalasin said with only the slightest hint of overtired petulance as she came to sit next him.

Sarge chuckled. “My apologies, Your Highness.”

She squinted at him through the dark, considering. “Kally. I’d like it if you called me Kally, please. Or Kalasin, I guess, but Kally’s for friends. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

Sarge thought for a moment. In truth she was the crown princess, his boss’s daughter, and he was old enough to be her father, but…

“What constellations do you know, Kally?”

A grin split her face and she jumped in to a rather rambling account of her astronomy lessons at the palace and how the stars are different at different times of the year, and how one day she’d like to see the sky from a boat on the ocean, it must be so big…

Content to let her chatter away – perhaps she’d wear herself out – Sarge smiled, nodding and asking questions when appropriate.

Suddenly she pointed. “That one’s the Dipper, you can find north with it if you’re lost. And over there is the Tower. Aunt Buri calls it something else in K’mir, but mama won’t tell me what it means. She says I have to wait until I’m older. I think it’s dirty. I’ll get Buri to tell me one day.”

Sarge snorted a laugh. “I’m sure you will.”

Craning her neck, Kally scanned the sky. “You can’t see it from here, but ‘Lanna told me the story about the Cat. It’s sad, but I like that there’s a cat looking out for us. And I think he’s proud of aunt Alanna. Papa said one day he’ll take me to the desert and we can see it really bright.” Kally yawned. “Are the stars different in Carthak? Mama and Buri told me about the different ones in Sarain, but that’s really far away.”

_No wonder Roald is so quiet, it’s a feat to get a word in around his sister_ , Sarge thought before replying. “Well, you’re right, Carthak’s not nearly as far as Sarain, but there are different names for some of the same constellations. And a few that we don’t have here in Tortall.”

So he taught her the words for the Dipper and Cat and Tower in Old Thak – pointedly not sharing the slang for the latter; she was right, it _was_ dirty. He also told her about the River Guardian, which was shaped like a massive crocodile (“You should ask Master Numair about that one, he’ll tell you the good stories.”) and the Hyena.

Kally’s eyes were beginning to droop, though she made a valiant effort to fight it. They did, however, fly open at the sound of her mother’s voice.

“Night watch, Sarge?”

“I just got them started, the baron’s regular guard took over the rest of command.”

Thayet’s eyes widened as she came closer and was able to see her daughter in Sarge’s shadow.

“Kalasin, _what_ are you doing out here?” She sighed. “Don’t tell me your brother’s up, too,” she said, already looking exhausted by the thought of corralling two children.

Kally shook her head fiercely. “Nope, just me. Sarge and I were stargazing. Did you know there’s a giant crocodile in the sky over Carthak?”

“Brilliant, sneaking around at night by herself” Thayet muttered under her breath before answering Kally at a regular volume. “I had heard that, yes. I’m sure Numair can tell you stories about it, too. Now, bedtime. Come on, I’m sure you’ve talked Sarge’s ears near off. Let’s let everyone rest.”

Sighing dramatically, Kally got up and wrapped her arms around her mother’s waist, tight as a barnacle.

Sarge chuckled. “Goodnight, Kally, Your Majesty,” he said with a nod.

“’Night, Sarge,” Kally said, turning her face free of Thayet’s torso so he could hear her.

“Goodnight, Sarge. And thank you.” Thayet said.

“It was a pleasure, truly. She burns brightly, that one.”

Thayet laughed a little. “Oh, believe me, I know.” Turning to Kally, she said “Come on, you.” She tried to take a step toward the keep, but Kally, it seemed, was doing a rather convincing job of making believe she was made of overcooked noodles.

Thayet rolled her eyes. “Oh for goodness sake.” She shifted her stance, bending her knees, hooking her arms below Kally’s bottom and lifting. Instinctively, the girl looped her legs around her mother’s waist as Thayet shifted Kally to her hip with a grunt. “Horse Lords help me, you’re going to be as tall as papa one day, aren’t you, Miss Longlegs?”

Sarge watched Kally shrug as her mother carried her in to the keep. The last thing he heard before the door closed behind them was Thayet swearing she would _not_ be carrying her daughter all the way upstairs when Kally had two perfectly good legs and her mother had been working hard all day.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Woops, my hand slipped. Have a follow-up chat between George and Thayet re: raising royal children.

Thayet heaved a sigh as she closed the bedroom door behind her and slumped against the wall beside it. Kally was tucked in – again – and the hall was quiet.

“Alright?”

The voice was soft, but Thayet still jumped a bit as George rounded the corner to lean against the wall opposite her.

“Mithros, George, must you sneak about in your own home?” She grimaced, though there was a note of teasing behind her words.

He shrugged easily. “Is it really sneaking if I’m only trying not to wake the little ones? Trouble there?” he asked, nodding toward the door Thayet had just closed.

Thayet rolled her eyes slightly. “Kally. I think she’s down now, but I found her out in the stable yard with Sarge, casual as anything. She couldn’t sleep so she—” Thayet waved a hand in exasperation. “—went wandering.”

George chuckled. “Always been bold, hasn’t she?”

Thayet hummed in quiet agreement and let her head fall back against the wall.

George studied her face for a moment before speaking again. “Tea? I know we’d called it a night, but second goodnights seem to be a theme this evenin’.” He smirked “I think there’s some Copper Isle Red Griffin down in the kitchen. For old times’ sake?”

Thayet took George’s outstretched hand and let him tug her away from the wall. “Tea and a second goodnight it is. It’s not as if I need to be up at dawn,” she replied with a rather undignified snort.

“That’s the spirit,” George said, slinging an arm around her shoulders and leading her down to the kitchen.

Thayet didn’t speak again until her hands were wrapped around a large mug of steaming tea. George sat across from her at the butcher block table, nursing his own mug and watching her relax a little more with each sip she took.

“Kally’s so… _comfortable_ here, away from the eyes of the palace. Not that she’s _un_ comfortable at home. Mithros knows she’s learning how to work the system as well as any monarch’s child, and is easier with it than Roald, but…” Thayet shook her head. “Sometimes I wonder.”

George said nothing, only lifted a questioning brow.

“Royalty screws you up.” Thayet replied, matter-of-factly.

“I could personally find you scores of Lower City residents who could tell you that,” George countered, not unkindly.

Thayet huffed a half-laugh. “That’s a whole other conversation, and you’re not wrong. But that’s not what I mean.” She paused for another sip of tea. “I mean, if it weren’t for lines of succession and the _expectation_ of it all, I don’t know that I would bring children in to it. Which I know is completely non-sensical. The line can’t just… end. But they didn’t ask for this. Heavens, _I_ didn’t ask for it when I was her age. I joke with Jon sometimes that I almost _escaped_ a marriage of state when I left Sarain, but at least I was an adult when I decided to tie myself to him, to this country.”

She looked across the table at George, expectantly. He only shrugged slightly, earning himself a half-hearted glare in return.

“Go on,” he said. “I don’t think you’re finished yet.”

“You’re infuriating, you know that?”

George chuckled. “My wife tells me near daily. Even my king says so on occasion.”

“Yes, well, like recognizes like,” Thayet snorted. She sighed again. “I don’t know, George. Sometimes I wish they could live more normal lives. With lighter shoulders. They get a taste of it here, they feel safe, but not as… coddled as in Corus. There’s family around.” At this she raised her mug to George. “But it’s different. Kally wouldn’t be able to just walk out of her room by herself in the middle of the night at home. Not easily. I’m not naïve enough to think she won’t find a way someday, but…”

Here George spoke. “I hear the teenage years are a delight. I think we’ll all be in for a treat, there,” he added ruefully.

Thayet shuddered in mock – or was it – horror. “I think you’re right on that. And I certainly won’t envy you when the twins get there.”

“Hey now, for all we know they’ll trade off and Thom will turn in to a hellion while Aly and Alan mellow,” George said, grinning.

Thayet raised a brow, skeptical.

“No, you’re right,” George sighed. “We’re in for an adventure,” he said, smiling softly and taking another sip of his tea.

“And you wouldn’t have it any other way, would you?” Thayet asked.

He shrugged. “There isn’t another way _to_ have it, the way I see it. They’ll find their paths, just as yours will. They’ll find ways to make their lives their own whether we like it or not.”

Thayet groaned. “That’s what I’m afraid of! Well, not afraid, exactly, but, Mithros, the stakes are so high. I already see how Roald… tempers himself. He carries his title so seriously at nine years old, which I’m grateful for, but it hurts my hurt at the same time. Part of me wishes he’d snuck out with Kally tonight, just for the small thrill of it, the childishness. I don’t ever want to forget that they’re children! Not while they still _are_ , no matter their other titles.”

“You won’t, never for long, at least,” George assured her. “And nor will the others who love them. Think of it this way: They may be royal, but they’re in no danger of having a conventional family, not by fusty court standards. That’s gotta count for something, eh? Plenty around to keep them humble and shake their perspectives a bit. Kally went stargazin’ with Sarge ‘cause she _could_. Just as she and Roald and Thom have adopted Daine and her animals. They’ll never be completely free of it, you’re right; but they’re gettin’ experiences beyond the silver spoon, Thayet. They’ll be alright.”

Thayet looked thoughtful, absently swirling the dregs of her tea in the bottom of her mug. “I suppose Jon turned out alright,” she said slowly. “Mostly.”

George snorted. “Mostly indeed. I’m sure you’d do fine comin’ up with some on your own if need be, but ask Alanna on a bad day for a list of his faults and you know she’d happily assist.”

Thayet laughed outright at that. “Oh, I know! And we are trying to do better by the children than what was done for either of us. Though, come to think of it, have I ever thanked you?” she asked. “I know you were a source of many of those experiences beyond the crown for Jon, especially in the early days. And I’ve no doubt he’s a better man _and_ a better king for them.”

George tipped his head back and drained his mug before he replied. Meeting Thayet’s gaze, he shrugged. “Ah, don’t mention it. It was always a pleasure to have Johnny in the city. Besides,” he added with a wink, “While I may be a touch more respectable these days, thanks to _King Jonathan_ , I’m certainly no less capable of ‘corrupting’ your children a bit if they need it.”

“Yes, yes, I know,” Thayet said fondly, waving a dismissive hand. “I see how intently Kally watches when you show off knife tricks with Evin.”

“Oh, does she?” George asked, widening his eyes comically and clasping a hand to his heart in mock astonishment.

“Oh, shut up. You’ve made your point and done it well,” Thayet said, standing and bringing both of their empty mugs over to the wash basin.

“Good. Now, you go get some rest. I’ll take care of those,” George replied, joining her at the counter.

“You’re sure? It’ll only take a moment…”

Chuckling, George hip checked her out of the way before dipping in to a deep bow. “Sweet dreams, Your Majesty,” he said, pointedly.

Shaking her head and smiling, Thayet turned to go. “Good night, George.”

“’Night, Thayet.”


End file.
